Can I Have This Dance
by Green-Eyes-and-Bushy-Hair
Summary: A simple request leads to something more than either of them had imagined. Feelings were revealed that night, old walls broken new bridges being built. My take on the famous Harry/Hermione dance scene from Deathly Hallows film. One shot.
1. Crash and burn

**_A/N: I don't own Harry Potter because if i did this scene would definitely be in the movies and the books._**

 ** _I had to write this! Whenever i watch that dance scene i just feel like putting my hands through the screen, grabbing their heads and make them kiss each other for infinite amount of time ;) But can't do that so had to settle with next best option; write!_**

 ** _Any/All mistakes are mine. Don't hate me for them._**

 ** _And it's my first ever story so please review and tell me what i am doing right/wrong so i can improve. I really feel like writing for hobby and your help will be greatly appreciated:)_**

 ** _Ok on with the story..._**

* * *

Harry was sitting outside the tent, he was on guard duty again tonight. Lately he had been avoiding Hermione every way he could. They hadn't talked to each other since that night, the night his fears were confirmed; Ron had left them after declaring that it had been nothing but a waste of his time all along. He had already lost one best friend, he did not want to lose another. May be thats why he was scared of facing Hermione, scared that she might see the uncertainty on his face, the hesitation in his voice indicating all Ron had said to be true. He was also avoiding her so that he might not give her a chance to confront him at last about this wild goose chase and declare she too was tired of this useless errand and she was going back to home, to Ron, to safety. But there was none of that for him, no one to really go back to. All life he had experienced just the extended source of safety in Hogwarts and extended source of family in Weasley, he had nothing really to go back to, nothing to call his own. His whole life had been one stretched road leading to a fight he had almost no chance of winning. It was like his life was just a mission to defeat Voldemort, everything else was secondary to the greater plan. May be it was better that he be alone to do what he had been destined to do the night voldemort marked his life a tragedy. But the selfish side of him did not want to go through this alone, he wanted someone to share his burden, to cheer him, to tell him that everything was going to be ok. He wanted Hermione to be alongside him like she had been in the past for countless times.

Tears unknown to him had started to fall from his eyes down his face. He felt so alone right now. Why did fate had to be so cruel to him. Why couldn't it be someone else, he deplored not for the first time. He shook his head like a stubborn child who had been denied his parents. He wanted nothing but to close his eyes and lose himself to soothing darkness that surrounded him from all sides. but he knew it was not that easy, fate had thrust on him the unfortunate destiny and now he was the only one who could end it, and he couldn't very well turn from his own doom because even if he did, it will find him, Voldemort will find him in the end.

He knew he had to do this, with or without his best friends, one of which was currently mourning their other friend. He decided he couldn't ignore her any longer. They had to talk about it. he would give her a choice, to either stay or go, no hard feelings. The selfish side of him was screaming at him to shut up and stay out of it but he could no longer listen to her incessant crying and not so quite sobs. She was his friend, his best friend. He should have gone to her ages ago and given her a shoulder to cry on. He felt ashamed now that he had emotionally abandoned the one person who had stuck by him through all this time and had questioned his wrong ideas but always followed through with him. She was the one and only constant in his life right now and he had abandoned her when she needed him the most. He had to rectify it. He would try to make amends by sharing her grief and sorrow. He will comfort her, let her know that he is there for her. He owed her so much more than his life but he had to start showing her how much she meant to him, how much her friendship was precious to him more than any treasure in world.

Harry got up from the laid out blanket, stood straight shaking off the snow from his hair and turned aside the flap of tent to enter inside. He was instantly aware of a low key song emitting from the radio placed at the far side of tent. she was sitting right by the radio, her legs bent and head resting on her knees. She looked so sad right then that harry felt a physical pang in his heart at seeing her like this. he looked around to do something other than stare at her. Spotting a chair to his left he sat down and waited for Hermione to acknowledge his presence. But after five minutes she seemed just as distant and oblivious as ever. A different song had started on radio whose soothing music calmed him somewhat. Suddenly an idea struck him. He slowly heaved himself off the chair and made his way slowly towards her. By now the song had picked up a bit that it filled the tent with a melancholy tune. He reached out to her, extending one hand to her in a unspoken gesture for dance. she looked up at him, at-last acknowledging him. Her eyes were weary, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. After so many days of avoiding her, now he looked at her truly looked at his best friend who had changed so much in span of few days; she looked so defeated and sad that harry had to physically force himself to keep looking in her eyes and not run away to hide from her seemingly questioning stare.

Hermione looked at his hand with weary cautiousness not understanding the gesture but like always she went with whatever harry was asking her to do and put her hand a bit reluctantly into his warm hand. He reached out to her with his other hand too and soon he was pulling her up from the floor. She willingly went along with him. She did not understand why harry was doing this after so many days of reining silence between them but she didn't have the energy to question him. He pulled her to the center of the tent and reached with his hands to her neck. From a moment she had an absurd thought he was going to do something inappropriate like removing her shirt but she quickly admonished herself when harry simply unclasped the locket around her neck and let it fall on ground not caring where it fell. The whole time their eyes never left each other. They were both conveying through their eyes what their words could not say. He was apologizing to her for leaving her to grieve alone, she was telling him all was ok that he was already forgiven. She could never stay mad at him.

He was pulling her along with him now, moving her arms for her to rhythm of the chanting music. She wanted to just go to her bunk bed and cry into her pillow do anything to distract herself from this hole in her heart. But Harry was determined now, he would not let her wallow anymore. They were all they had left now and they had to learn to share their pain, grief, happiness.

The song was really at its peak now. He moved more swiftly, pulling her along, jumping now and then like a child around her. That got a smile out of her at last. He was loaded with relief at her smile. All was not lost. Gradually she began to move her hands of her own accord in rhythm to music and in harmony with Harry's movements. Soon they were laughing and dancing, laughing at Harry's ridiculous attempts at dancing by twirling himself around Hermione's hand and crossing his legs left and right. She didn't know but harry was doing all of that just to see her smile and hear her tinkling laugh which he had missed like mad for past days. The song was forgotten now and they seemed to be in their own world, holding on to each other and swaying at the spot to the fading song. For a moment Hermione had forgotten everything else around her, it was only harry in her vision and mind right now. Resting her head on his shoulder and swaying together, she felt contented after a very long time.

Harry was feeling like he had come home. The dread of loneliness that had plagued him few minutes ago was a distant memory now. Resting his head on her shoulder, taking in the soft and silky smell coming from her, he felt he wanted nothing more in his life right now than to just stay here frozen in this beautiful moment with her. It was perfect. This moment was perfect.

With the feeling of contentment came a strange urge to keep holding her like this forever. He finally let his mind to think what he had always avoided to think. In his arms was the person who had always been at his side, trusting him, following him with pure faith and loyalty. She had never asked for anything in return, just friendship. He had not been blind then and he sure as hell wasn't blind now. He had selflessly put himself aside after Ron hinted that he fancied Hermione. Now he knew he had acted cowardly back then; instead of following his heart he had turned away from the best thing that could have happened otherwise. But now he was here and Hermione was here. He had never been this intimate with her before, sure they had hugged through out the years but this was a whole different level of intimate embrace between two people who had been separated from each other for far too long. Being this close to her had brought back all those repressed sentiments on to surface.

The song had ended a while ago, and that realization dawned on both of them almost at the same time. They pulled back slowly from each other, feeling a strange reluctance to do so. Their eyes met and it was like Harry was blinded by the raw emotions in her eyes; sadness, anger, happiness, desire and dared he think love were chasing each other behind those liquid orbs. It was like some invisible force was pulling him towards her, he seemed drawn to her lips like a moth to a flame, a parched person to goblet of water.

She was transfixed, watching harry like this, emotionally exposed to her right then, his eyes were blatantly telling her what she refused to understand. For once she did not want to know, doing so would mean shattering the previously built foundations. She had always wanted to see that look harry was giving her right now. She had loved him from the very start when he had helped her escape the troll back in their first year. After that it was a downward tumble for her, falling fast and hard for him. But she had never let anyone know, to everyone else she was the logical and know-it-all girl. Who could have fancied her. So she had kept her feelings close to her heart, seeing harry with other girls and comparing them to herself, never saying anything. He never noticed her so she tried to make him notice her when she started going out with boys but he remained ever the ignorant of her feelings. Thats when she really tried to move on by accepting Ron's offer to get together, knowing in her heart she would never be able to get what her heart desired the most.

Tonight all those feelings had exploded inside of her, screaming at her to act on them, to at-last let him know how she felt, so she could at least get closure. But she did not want to lose his friendship. He was all she had left now. If he rejected her she did not think she could take it after the still fresh wound from someone else's departure. She could not risk it. Harry may be emotionally vulnerable but she could not indulge him, not when she felt so deeply for him. This was one thing she would deny him. So when his lips slowly moved towards her own she stepped away and turned to leave. But his hand that was still entwined with hers stopped her from doing so.

"Hermione" he whispered her name with such tenderness that she almost broke down her resolve, almost.

She blinked back tears, no this could not be happening, not after all this time, when she had decided to move on, he had to come and throw down her house of cards. "Harry, I can't", she pleaded with him, begging him to stop, refusing to look at him knowing that doing so would destroy her will to be strong enough for both of them.

"why not?", his confused and hurt voice carried over her shoulder to her ears stabbing her heart with shards of his raw emotions, and all those feelings she had repressed for so long surged up and took over her mind and body completely, and the intense atmosphere between them seem to cackle with charged air.

Suddenly those two words had broken down her every last crumbling wall of defense around her heart. She could not take it anymore, this was too much, this storm of emotions was going to drown her if she did not let them out tonight. May be she wasn't strong enough. Why did she always had to be the sensible one, the logical one, her mind supplied annoyingly. So with that she let it all go to hell.

With a swiftness of wind howling outside the tent, she turned towards him, and taking his face in both of her hands kissed him full on mouth, unleashing all she felt into the kiss. It was like she had started breathing again after holding her breadth all these years, her heart was beating frantically; rejoicing at this moment. She did not care for anything else right now. It was like a revelation. She had been given elixir of bliss and she was going to enjoy it and let the chips fall where they may later.

Harry was stunned that she had given in so easily but it only lasted a moment after which he returned her excitement with his ferociousness and poured all that he had to tell her into that kiss. He did not want to hold back tonight. It might be his only chance and he aimed to milk it for every last precious second.

Hermione's hands were roaming his back, one hand close to where his shirt ended and was beginning to tear it away from confine of his jeans. His one hand threaded through her hair lightly massaging her scalp with tender but frenzied movements. She moaned a little at that which only spurred him on. His other hand started unbuttoning her shirt. It was a bit difficult task to do with only one hand but she beat him to it, opening her shirt by unbuttoning all the way in such fast pace that harry just stared at her. But Hermione was far too gone to care about any thing as trivial as clothes. She had pulled his shirt out of his jeans and now jerked it upward with such force that Harry's glasses nearly dropped on ground.

Looking and touching her newly exposed skin for the first time, he almost fainted with wonder. He could not believe he had never noticed Hermione before. In his mind he had always thought of her as that eleven year old he met on train. But now looking at her he discovered that she had really grown into woman. His hands reverently moved on her skin reveling in the softness of it. He wanted to just have few years to touch her and memorize the touch of her hands on his skin, the suppleness of it, the delicious way their bodies melted into each other. His mouth descended from her lips down to her neck caressing the skin there with his lips making love to her skin with gentle strokes of his mouth. She was moaning softly now and her breath was coming shallow and fast. "Harry" she moaned loudly indicating her impatience with him. He captured her lips again effectively silencing her protests.

Both hands around her waist, he guided her to the single bed at the far left of the tent without breaking the kiss, the whole way. when her legs encountered the edge of bed, they stopped kissing and finally looked at each other again; the only thing their eyes reflected back was desire, pure flaming red hot desire. without leaving his eyes her hands reached her own waist and she unzipped her jeans, motioning him with her eyes to follow her steps. He immediately complied, fumbling with his jeans' button that had decided then to not yield to his demands. Hermione had lowered herself on the bed and was watching him with such fire in her eyes that harry was surprised he did not burst into flames. When he finally got out of his jeans, he slowly moved over her and hovered there, kissing her once again. Her hands flew to his hair and gripped them, holding him there, their bodies molded together, providing delicious friction to the front of their bodies. When his hands moved from her chest down to her womanly core, moving around it in unpracticed movements, she let out a breathy sign so he knew he was doing something right. He was really in pain right now and could not help but grind himself in agonizingly delicious back and forth strokes against her.

They were a tangled mess right now, his hands around her head, his lips mapping the sooth curves of her chest, her hands clawing at his back in order to hold back the moans that were constantly coming out of her now. When Harry could wait no longer he moved over her in suitable angle and his movements slowed down, his eyes found hers, asking her once again without words if that was what she wanted. Her head moved in affirmative node. "Go slow" she panted and he nodded. He knew they both were new to this and it might be painful for her so he was going to be careful. With a self control harry did not know until now he possessed, he moved slowly into her, stopping when Hermione gasped. "Keep going" she said with short breath. When he was fully inside her, he waited for her and then began to move slowly, scrutinizing her face for any sign of pain but her hands gripped his hips hard and pushed him down on her indicating she was alright.

They began to move together, awkwardly at first but then they chose their rhythm and danced to it with grace of a sensuous waltz. After reaching the euphoria together, they collapsed back onto bed, eyes closed, still savoring the after effects of their love making. After their breadths had been stabilized, Hermione moved into his arms again, laying her head on his chest and harry encircled her by putting his arms around her, leaning his head on hers and kissed her hair. "Good night" he whispered.

"G'night", her only reply before sleep took her over. Harry followed soon after, a smile on his face even after he was asleep long after.

* * *

When he came out of dreamless sleep the next morning, he found himself in an unfamiliar position; he was not alone in bed and it was uncharacteristically warm around. He opened his eyes and met the bushy mane of brown hair clouding his vision. The actions of last night came to his mind and he smiled at the still fresh and sweet memory of them together like that. He had doubts before that they might not be compatible, the spark might not be there, their feelings might be what just of friends. He had feared that they might be embarrassed when it felt nothing but a huge mistake on their part but all those fears had been swept away in the torrent of their joining last night. With a sigh of contentment he closed his eyed and took in the whiff of her hair that smelled of vanilla and rose.

His stomach growled suddenly and he decided to appease the monster. Slowly extricating himself from her arms he stood back from the bed and watched her for a moment. She looked so peaceful and calm that he could not remember the last time he had seen her like that. Both of them had slept dreamless after a very long while. He bent towards her and lightly brushed his lips with hers. A small smile crept onto her face and he couldn't hold back his own smile.

He went to a muggle cafe in nearby town for breakfast. He thought they needed a respite from the same colorless diet they had been consuming lately which majorly contributed to their grumpy and sour moods. He decided on two cappuccinos and some hot rolls and muffins. He had to confound the muggle into taking the galleons he had to offer. They were gold so they more than compensated for his fair, he thought guiltily. When he apparated back to the tent, he saw Hermione was still sleeping. Not wanting to let the drink go cold he decided to wake her up. Taking one cup of cappuccino in hand he made towards her and placed the steaming cup near her face. After few moments her face scrunched up a little and her nostrils tried to follow the sweet scent coming out of the cup. "Coffee" she mumbled before slowly opening her eyes and coming face to face with harry holding coffee.

"Brought you this" he held out he coffee which she took with a grateful smile and took a sip of it. She closed her eyes at the taste and moaned at the aroma of her favorite drink. Suddenly her eyes opened to look at him sharply ,"you didn't steal it, did you?"

"What, no I did not steal it. I paid for it" he sputtered indignantly. Hermione kept prodding him with her questioning eyes to elaborate his method of paying, to which he relented "with galleons, Hermione, but it's technically money you know" He added the last bit to mallow her and it worked a bit. May be Hermione with coffee was easy to handle after all, he thought absently.

"I would have made you take it back but i have already tasted it so have to make do" she sipped again to hide her smile from him but he saw it anyway.

"While you are at it, have some of these too", he motioned to the table where small assortment of muffins and rolls were present. Her eyes lit up at the mere sight and she beamed at him before kissing him swiftly without thinking. He was surprise at her casual display of affection but he was not complaining so he kissed back. May be they were going to all right after all.

She pulled back after few seconds or was it hours, and looked surprised at herself too for doing that but soon it was erased when harry grabbed her hand and pulled her to the table. "come on before everything get cold", to which she replied by pinching him in the arm. They sat down opposite to each other and ate for a while in silence, enjoying the delicacy of their breakfast they had come by after what felt like ages.

When they were finished at last harry vanished the empty paper bag and cups. "let's sit outside the weather is really nice outside" She nodded "Okay" and they both went outside, harry carrying the snitch and Hermione followed with tales of Beedle the bard book. Harry honestly didn't know what more she could pick out of that book but he had long since stopped to ask about it.

They both sat down near the mouth of the tent on the gravel crunch of autumn leaves strewn on the ground. The air was mildly cool and chirpy with birds singing in the branches above them. Sky was perfect blue with small patches of fluffy clouds, perfect weather for flying, Harry thought wistfully.

"Harry?" he hadn't noticed that his brief lapse of emotions had not gone unnoticed by her.

"Just remembering quiditch practice, Oliver would drag us out of beds around this time to practice for upcoming matches. Sometimes he would wake us so early it was still night and Fred and George would just nod off after his first round of game talk. I just saw how today was the perfect weather for flying had we been back there" His voice had gone from cheery to melancholy the next, remembering Hogwarts had brought back the memory of someone that they had silently agreed to not to talk about.

Hermione moved closer to him and put one hand atop his and looked at him softly ,"You know I never understood the fascination surrounding Quidditch. It's just a game!" She said with mock exasperation, her eyes shining with playfulness.

"And yet you still came up to watch every game back then", he retorted smugly.

"Well someone had to watch you from hurting your self up in the air. You know with you being the magnet for trouble and all", she supplied mischievously. Harry stared at her and then they both burst out laughing, not caring for the moment that they were runaway rebels wanted by government and ought to be quite and careful. Clutching their sides after laughing so much they laid back on ground side by side.

"It feels good to be like this", he voiced, tinge of smile laced in his words.

Hermione turned towards him, resting her weight on the elbow and glanced at him through her hair that were swaying to the gentle air that had picked up."like What?" she asked.

"To be carefree for a while, laugh at absurd things, to be able to enjoy just being here with you" He had closed his eyes and was enjoying the feel of fresh autumn wind on his face. He did not want to scare her anymore by showing the intensity of his emotions clearly evident in his eyes.

"It does", she agreed and then lowered her mouth to his and softly kissed him on the lips.

He had felt tingling of her hair on his face before his lips were met with softness of a gentle kiss. He responded with equal compassion. He was lost in her kiss but it soon came to an end. She was smiling at him with such mirthful eyes that it was quite infectious and soon he was smiling too.

She kissed him once more before resting her head on his head just like she had last night and softly whispered, "It feels good to be like this".


	2. Revelations

_**Here you go guys! Another chapter to this little attempt of mine. It had meant to be one shot but reading so sweet reviews, some asking for an update, i decided to give you one. Aren't i generous:)**_

 _ **Thank you to my first ever reviewers: bikermo, starboy454, anotherboarduser, vixen279, librarian73. Your reviews meant the world to me really.**_

 _ **Ok onto reading. Please read and review. They motivate me to write and improve.:)**_

* * *

It was long past noon and the sun was sinking behind the distant blue mountains, casting its last crimson orange beams on the ground and onto the faces of two young people sleeping alone in the middle of the forest.  
"Harry", Hermione mumbled sleepily. Her eyes were still closed to block out the soft sun light.  
"mmh" Harry grumbled and fell silent again.  
"Harry it's late! I can't believe we slept through an entire morning. We were supposed to be keeping watch and I think I just heard someone moving around in the forest", Her concerned voice woke him up somewhat and he opened his eyes to see a worried Hermione looking around them, searching warily for any thing abnormal or suspicious.  
"Come on Hermione there is nothing there", He sat up beside her, yawning slightly. Boy it felt good to get proper sleep for once in a while.  
"It could be, I don't know Harry maybe we should apparate somewhere else. We have already spent two days here. What?" She asked at his dumb founded expression.  
The sight before him had stunned him into silence; Hermione was sitting in a way that she was obscuring the path of sunlight, Harry observed. Her hair blazed golden around the edges where the fiery light refracted off it. Her skin was radiant in the warm glow of fading sun. Surrounded by the orange-brown falling leaves and framed by golden light she looked like she belonged here; in the unchanging, pure and timeless nature, an other worldly creature. Apparently Hermione had asked him something judging by the inquisitive expression present on her face. "what?" he asked, feeling dizzy all of a sudden for no apparent reason.  
"What were you thinking? You really zoned out for a moment there", she cocked her head to the side watching him with a glint in her eyes.  
"I um just ..ah..", After all they had done he still felt shy of expressing his emotions in words. But he looked at her again and words tumbled out of his mouth without further self-persuasion, "You look really beautiful right now".  
Hearing that she shyly looked down from his face to her own hands in her lap, feeling self conscious all of a sudden. She was not a low-esteem kind of person, actually she prided herself in who she was; strong willed, intellectual and logical person. But hearing Harry say something so out of character for him, she felt overjoyed and pleased and then embarrassed that she felt like this. She looked at him with doubtful eyes, "You are just saying that, Harry. I am far from beautiful" she said nonchalantly.  
"You _are_ beautiful, Hermione", Harry said to her and then decided she needed more reassurance so he went on,"The way the sunlight make your hair like molten gold, swaying in the wind around you, you glow like thousand stars sewn in the ivory fabric of your skin, your eyes just make me bow down and fall to your feet" He enacted the last part by bowing down and started tickling her feet with his fingers, making her shriek and squirm uncontrollably.  
"Stop Harry stop", she was laughing heartily at his lame attempts at romantic prose. "you are terrible really... but thank you" she said, with tears of laughter swimming in her eyes, after he had stopped making her scream like banshee.

With a perfect synchronized movement they drew close to each other and kissed softly on the lips. Instead of just a loving peck on the lips the kiss slowly morphed into something intense. Their lips fought for dominance, tongues invading other's territory, trying to mark the sacred places first.  
A loud chattering noise by a nearby kestrel disturbed the serene silence that had prevailed after setting of the sun, and the passionate kiss of two young couple.  
"Come on let's get inside. I would really love some tea right now with those left over rolls", Harry stood up and with a wave of invitation went inside.  
Smiling at the retreating figure, Hermione went after him.  
After they had finished tea, Hermione went outside for her turn to watch out for the night. She had declined his offer saying she needed some fresh air to clear her mind. He watched her go and then plopped down on the saggy old chair. He felt like he had forgotten to do something. He racked his brains but could not remember as to what that was.  
Sitting outside, Hermione pondered on all that had happened between Harry and her since last night. She had wanted this for so long; not the physical aspect only-which was mind blowing to say the least- but the need to tell him what she felt, able to look at him without feeling the need to hide her true emotions from him. She felt free at last to show him how much she liked him.

A small nagging voice in her mind kept reminding her that Harry might not feel the same for her. To him all this that happened could be summed up to pent up sexual frustration, nothing more. That thought really depressed her and she tried to banish it from her mind with little success. In the end she decided to talk to Harry about it and with that thought her rational mind made peace with her, to let her continue the watch for the time being. Watching the same scene in front of her made her doze off into a warm stupor.  
She was shaken gently by someone. "Come on Hermione go back inside to sleep. I will watch over here", he said it, his mouth so close to her ear it made her shiver despite the mild wind of late autumn blowing past her. She clutched his jacket to keep him close, not wanting to part with him.  
"Only If you come to bed with me", she whispered softly into his jacket. Her request was met with silence. She looked up at him and saw him looking at her. Her meaning behind the request had not gone unnoticed by him. So with one little "okay" he pulled her up on her foot gently and they made their way to the single bed in the tent. The rest of night was spent exploring the newly found terrain and reuniting with previously discovered secrets between the newly bonded lovers.

* * *

Slightly shivering from the cool morning draft coming through the open tent flap, Hermione drowsily made to grab the blanket only to be resisted by Harry's weight. After several unsuccessful attempts at snagging the warm blanket from him, she did the only thing she could and snuggled closer to him under the little provided blanket. His body heat and the arm unconsciously drawn around her lulled her softly into peaceful sleep.  
Something was moving on her, interrupting the beautiful dream she was having just moments ago. Her hand flew around to swath away the source of her annoyance only to be met with nothing. Moments later she felt something soft against her neck, moving slowly, lazily wandering around. She kept her eyes closed but she could very well imagine the smile she must have on her face right now. She moaned her appreciation at the touch and extended her neck to give him better access. His lips were now making for her lips. But before they could reach where she wanted them, they swerved to the side and kissed the corner of her mouth before going further back and nibbling at her ear, teasing her.

"Good morning", his voice ticked her and she giggled at the sensation.  
Hermione opened her eyes and turning her head, kissed him before saying," Good morning".  
"What time is it?" She asked while grabbing her shirt from the edge of the bed and started looking for her jeans; Harry handed her the jeans with a grin on his face that made her blush involuntarily.  
"Around nine", he shrugged. His eyes were watching her skin slowly getting veiled behind the layers of clothing, he didn't like it.

"I am hungry", she whined making Harry laugh.

"It's your fault you work out so much" he teased her.

"For that you won't be 'working out" with me tonight then", she pulled out her tongue at him childishly and pushed past him.

"No can't do, have to keep myself up in shape", He called after her and heard her snort.

She turned, giving him a sweetly innocent look and said ,"Well it won't do us any good if we do not replenish our energy for such strenuous exercises"

And with that she went to the kitchen part of the tent, leaving a dazed Harry behind.  
They made tea and settled with some boiled eggs taken from a nearby store. After that they both once again went to sit outside, to keep watch and also to soak up the last sunny days before winter made its appearance known.  
"Hermione?", Harry was trying to show that he wasn't nervous; he was anything but. He had decided they should talk about 'it'. He knew he liked her and she must do to some extent too or she wouldn't have done what they did that night, and again last night he thought with a smile. He wasn't an expert on relationship matters but he knew communication is the key to a healthy one. So he bit the bullet and asked her, "I think we should talk about... What we have been doing".  
Hermione had guessed pretty much what he was going to say. With a sigh she closed her book, bookmarking it, and faced him fully with a serious look adorning her features.  
"You are right we should, Harry", she steeled her eyes for a moment taking control of her emotions,"Harry I want you to know that i don't blame you for what happened. You were emotionally vulnerable and i knew that but still i didn't stop you".  
Harry tried to say something but she stopped him. "Let me finish please. I used you like that knowing what it would do to our friendship. But i am really sorry Harry. You can't know how sorry i am. I let my selfish side guide me for once and look what happened. We can forget that it ever happened. I really don't want to lose our friendship, harry" Her voice broke at the end and she used her sleeve to rub away the stray tears on her face.  
"Are you finished? Good because what you said is completely bull. I wasn't drunk or unconscious that night to think properly, Hermione. It wasn't your fault entirely. I was the willing party too so you couldn't have used me anyway. And it was the amazing mistake I think i ever made, if you want to call it that. I don't know about you but i don't want to forget all of this. I don't want to forget how you make me come alive with bare touch of your hand or how your lips part whenever i touch your face" he emphasized his point by running his fingers softly on her face and was proved right when she half opened her mouth to let out a breathy sigh.  
"But Harry it was all just physical attraction for you. We both needed some intimacy and comfort from each other", she said, her heart breaking with every word she uttered" it was nothing more".  
Harry grabbed her arms firmly and turned her to look into her eyes with fierce determination, "Hermione it was never just physical attraction with you."

She stared at him, confused at his statement, "But it was, Harry you didn't feel anything for me like that before. Am I to believe that all of a sudden you like me?", she almost shouted the last part at him.  
He regarded her for a moment, thinking of words forming in his minds to answer her question.

"How do you know i felt nothing for you before?", He asked rhetorically with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"I know you didn't", she was being stubborn now like she always did when some particular arithmancy problem refused to be solved in the first attempt.

"For once, Hermione, you are wrong", he said loudly. "I fancied you way back in our third year. When you helped me save Sirius, ignoring the consequences had we been caught that time, made me realize what you meant to me. You had no obligation to help me but you did and I knew that day that we were going to be more in future. We became best friends. In our fourth year you were the only one who believed me without a doubt. That once again made me realize how much you meant to me. I had been a right bloke then, ignoring what i felt for you, categorizing it into just best friends' feelings. But then i decided to talk to you, work up my courage to tell you how i felt but before i could muster up my guts, Ron told me he fancied you. I was going to tell you Hermione but after hearing Ron, i chose to keep my mouth shut. I now know it was highly cowardly and stupid on my part but Ron's friendship meant more to me than what my heart wanted that time and after what with the night i was chosen to participate in the tournament, i didn't like not talking to him no matter how much of a prat he had been. So i decided to step aside, and keep what i felt for you to myself."

She was looking at him like she had never seen him properly before. Her eyes were on him, rapt with attention on his every word.

"But it was hard, Hermione. To watch you with Krum at the ball and then hear Ron talk about you all the time. I wanted nothing more than just to yell at him to shut up and tell him he had no right to talk about you like that.

I had so many chances through the next year but i was too coward still. So i decided to distract myself with Cho but even that couldn't divert me from the constant presence of you in my mind. In our last year i promised myself that i will tell you at last. May be you felt the same for me after all this time. Remember, i asked you to come to Slughorn's party with me? I was going to tell you that night but you said you were going out with Mclaggen to make Ron jealous. That was my cue that i had been too late; you liked Ron after all. So i tried to move on and got out with Ginny. She was everything a guy look for but she wasn't you. I satisfied myself that whatever made you happy was good enough for me, if it was Ron that made you happy so be it."

He took her hands in his then, grasping them tightly,"But i never stopped, Hermione. Merlin I tried but it was you all along. You are what i want. I want to be selfish with you. I don't care anymore about anyone but you".

Hermione was crying now, her hands still clutched in his, her breadth was shallow and fast. She took a deep breadth to calm her self. "Harry why didn't you? We could have had so many years to enjoy, to be with each other like we were meant to. You are wrong too, you know. I liked you even before that; when you saved me from that troll in our first year, our friendship bloomed but so did my feelings for you. I was so young back then to fully understand what those feelings truly meant and I attributed them to the close friendship we had. Over the years I started to understand those feelings and I fell more for you with every year that passed. I knew you would never like me like that. i was just a know-it-all big toothed friend who helped you with your homework. I knew I wasn't pretty like Cho and Ginny, the kind you seemed to prefer. So I didn't say anything. Then Ron asked me out and I tried to move on by accepting his offer. But I never stopped loving you, Harry", she sobbed and tried to pry her hands out of his but he held on.

"I can't believe we wasted so much time being stupid. But it's in the past. What matters is now" He brought her hands to his face and softly planted a kiss on her palm.

"I have loved you before I even realized that. I know with hundred percent surety that you are the one and only person I want to spent my probably last counted day with. I don't want to waste another minute of it to be apart from you." He kissed her then, with delicate press of his lips on hers.

"I don't want to waste another minute without you either" she rasped against his lips before resuming the kiss with new found fiery passion ignited by tonight's revelations. Their lips crashed against each other, conveying the raw emotions through the joining of tongues.

Only when they both started to get light headed from the lack of oxygen did their lips broke apart to gulp in the much needed air. They brought their foreheads together and kept breathing and slowing down their frantically beating hearts.

"So does that mean we are together now?" Harry asked her with feigned innocence and was rewarded with an unbidden burst of laughter from her.

"I think you may be right, Harry" she said with a beautiful smile and pulled him for another kiss. This one was sweet and chaste and full of promise for the future.

Their future.


End file.
